1. Rolling the Dice

Legends of Nor'Ova is a tabletop RPG that uses stats and dice for gameplay. You have already experienced rolling dice and making stats while creating your character. This is simply a refresher as well as an explanation of some of the uncommon aspects.

First you should famaliarize yourself with the dice that you will be using in game play. They are as follows:

Percentile Dice: Also writen as 1d%, these are the main dice that you will use. A set of percentile dice has a tens dice ("00") and a ones dice ("0"). Rolling those dice together is how you will do most things from stat checks to using skills.

d20: Also known as the 1d20 or the twenty-sided dice, this dice is the main dice in most game systems. In Legends of Nor'Ova, it is only used for checking initiative in battle. The d20 is used for this because it is the largest common single dice, lessening the odds that two people will roll the same number.

Other Dice: You should also have a full set of standard polygon dice as spells, skills, and some weapons will make use of the different dice.

As noted above, the main dice that you will use is the percentile dice. Reading the percentile dice is quite simple, you read the tens dice first ("00") followed by the ones dice ("0"). If you rolled a "10" and a "0", that equals 10. If you rolled a "00" and a "1", that equals "1". If you rolled a "00" and a "0", that equals 100. Pretty simple, right?

2. Dealing With Decimals

Occasionally you might come across decimals. While most of the system is simple adding and subtracting, it does still happen. This is especially true in crafting. The rule for decimals is simple, round up.

Of course you might be wondering, do I always round up? Here's some simple rules on that matter:

You always round up to the nearest whole number for all values except weight and cost.

Weight and cost are rounded up to the nearest hundredth place ("0.01")

If the value is 1.123432, you would round that up to 2, or to 1.13 if it is a weight or a cost.

If the value is 1.012343, you would keep that as a 1, or round up to 1.02 if it is a weight or a cost.

Therefore, unless it is a weight or a cost, you only look at the number next to the decimal ("1.1"), and if that number is anything but a 0, you round up to the nearst whole number. Weights and costs though are kept at 2 decimal places.

3. Durations

Many spells and status effects provide a duration. You might be tempted to think that if you recast that spell or poison that target again before the duration runs out, that the duration would be extended and maybe the effects increased. However this is not correct. You cannot, for example, increase the damage of poison by applying poison again. Nor can you increase the duration like this. If a target is poisoned, that target cannot be poisoned any further until the duration of the poison is complete.

Lets look at the spell haste, for example.

Haste

With this manipulation you gift your target with a boost of speed by pushing them faster with wind magic and negating all air resistance. With this boost all of the target’s movement rates will be doubled. You can use this on any target including yourself.

10 SA;
1 magic

1 target

1d6 rounds

1 skill point = 2 skill mastery %

N/A

As you can see, it lasts for 1d6 rounds. Lets say that it lasts for 3 rounds. For 3 rounds, the target's movement rates are doubled. If you cast this spell on that same target in round 2, it will not quadruple the target's movement rates nor will it increase the duration by an extra 1d6 rounds. It would have been a wasted effort.

4. Status Effects

Status effects are any effects which alter your character’s status. These could be positive effects, such as increased speed or a slow regeneration of HP, however you are more likely to come across negative status effects. These could be effects from your own mistakes, such as drinking too much or not enough or even carrying too much weight. These could also come from spells, nature, traps, and other sources. The following table will show all of the negative status effects that you can encounter in the game, what they do, and some treatments for them. You should note that some campaigns will come with special status effects relevant to the story of the campaign and your GM may include his own status effects and cures.

Status Effects Table

Status Effect

Effect

Sample Cures

Poison

Causes 1d6 damage to HP per round or minute. Damage value can vary and can be applied to SA or EP as well.

antidote

Disease

Depends upon GM's description of the disease but usually contains several status effects.

antibiotic

Sickness

Decreases all movement rates by half and damage dealt by 25%, usually for 3 rounds though can last longer or not as long.

orange nectar

Nausea

Decreases all movement rates by half, usually for 3 rounds though can last longer or not as long.

seltzer

Frost Bite

Causes 1d6 damage to HP per round or minute.

warming ointment

Heat Exhaustion

Causes 1d8 damage to EP per round or minute.

cold salve

Dehydration

Causes 1d4 damage to HP and 1d6 damage to EP per round or minute.

salt tablet + water

Stone

Slowly turns the target into stone one portion of the body at a time. Total transformation takes 6 rounds or 60 seconds.

soft

Burns

Causes 1d6 damage to HP per round or minute.

aloe vera oil

Sun Burn

Causes target to receive 1d4 damage to HP each time the target is touched on its burned skin.

aloe vera oil

Intoxication

Decreases the target's speed and mental by 10, makes concentration impossible, decreases all movement rates by half, and requires the target to make perception checks to hit a target.

remedy

Addiction

Requires the target to need at least 1 dose of addicted substance per hour or be induced with the withdrawal status effect.

time for withdrawal

Withdrawal

Decreases all move rates by ¾, and causes berserk.

time (3 game days)

Fatigue

Decreases all move rates by ½, and melee power by ½.

sugar water

Depression

Decreases melee power by ½, and requires a will check for every action.

popcorn seed oil

Anxiety

Decreases melee power by ½, and requires a will check against fear every round.

popcorn seed oil

Confusion

Requires a mental check for each enemy and ally target to determine who the enemy target is. A failed mental check will mean that the affected character thinks that target is an enemy target.

time (3 rounds)

Berserk / Rage

Doubles total damage values but prevents the affected target from using any spells or defending.

liquor

Fear / Fright

Causes the target to fear enemy targets and retreat from the enemy targets at all costs.

liquor

Loss of Purpose / Self

Causes the target to not desire to do anything.

popcorn seed oil

Restlessness

Causes the target to be unable to rest for any period of time preventing rest restoration and meeting rest needs.

liquor

Forgetfulness

Causes the target to forget how to use skills or spells while affected requiring them to treat their skills or spells as if they only have a 1% mastery.

remedy

Encumbered

For every 10 pounds over your character's weight limit your character's move rates will decrease by 1 and jump ranges will decrease by 1. Once over 50 pounds your characters EP will drop by 10 per minute and no longer be able to use movement skills.

decrease weight

Slow

Decreases all movement rates by ½.

time for effect to wear off

Knocked Down

Causes the target to lose 1 round.

time (1 round)

Stun

Causes the target to be unable to act of the duration of the stun, typically for 1 to 3 rounds.

muscle ointment

Paralyzed

Causes the target to be unable to act for the duration of the effect, no less than 6 rounds.

muscle ointment

Sleep

Causes the target to be unable to act until awakened.

wake target up

Comatose

A sleep in which the target can't seem to recover from naturally. If not treated soon it will result in death.

smelling salts

Death

Game Over. This is the end of your character's life which happens when your character has no more HP left.

life spell

Blind

Requires the target to make a perception check to hit and decreases the target's perception by ½.

time for effect to wear off

Visual Distortion

Requires the target to make a perception check to hit.

eye drops

Deafness

Decreases the target's perception by ¼.

time for effect to wear off

Charmed

Causes the target to protect whoever or whatever charmed the target.

time (3 rounds)

Wounds

These are basic wounds like scratches, bruises, and small cuts. Wounds cause an area to be sore and if hit has a 15% chance of stunning the wounded target for one round.

bandages, healing spells, time (depends on wound)

Serious Wounds

These are far more grievous wounds and can be life threatening, such as deep cuts, impaled objects, and the like. The seriously wounded can not act until the wound is cared for and treated.

first aid, surgical procedures, healing spells, GM discretion

Bleeding Out

This is a secondary status effect caused by an open wound that continues to bleed. While this status effect is in place, the affected will loose 10% of his or her max HP from their current HP per round or minute.

bandages, first aide, healing spells, time (depends on wound)

Minor Broken Bones

These are minor bones that don't really prevent the character from fighting or walking, but will cause continual pain. The character will be unable to run or climb or fly and unable to use magic or skills beyond Tier 2 until the break is treated.

sling or cast to treat, time or healing magic to fully cure

Broken Limb Bones

This is broken legs, arms, or wings. The broken limb cannot be used even when being treated, until fully healed. Until it is treated it acts the same as Minor Broken Bones.

cast to treat, time or healing magic to fully cure

Loss of Appendage

This is the loss of a finger or toe. The immediate loss will have the secondary status effect of Bleeding Out, but once treated should not affect the character (GM Discretion)

Must treat the Bleeding Out

Loss of Limb

This is the complete loss of a leg, arm, or wing. Bleeding Out immediately takes effect and there is a 25% chance of death and a 35% chance of unconsciousness. This is a serious wound that must be treated right away.

Must treat the Bleeding Out

Dazed

This is a state of temporary shock usually following a powerful hit to the head or torso region. It causes the affected to immediately loose 1 attack and movement action for the next active round. If the affected only had 1 attack or movement action, the affected will not be able to attack or move for the next round. Furthermore, the affected must make a Will check to use a magic spell in the next active round.

time (1 round)

Every listed medicine can be purchased from the alchemist. Some medicines will cure multiple effects, such as remedy, and some effects have multiple cures. Some effects simply have to run their course.

5. Battles

Negative status effects aren’t the only dangers that you are likely to face in your adventure. No matter where you are, there is always a chance that you will find yourself in a battle against hostile foes. This could be a battle of survival against a pack of hungry lions out in the plains or giant rabid rats in the sewers. You could be defending yourself against a would be assassin in a dark ally way or some over zealous guard who has nothing better to do with their time than to pick a fight with you. You could even be the instigator, hunting a large, rare beast or getting caught by a regiment of guards after a heist and not wanting to be arrested. Whatever the reason, you are more than likely to find yourself in a battle, and therefore battles are one of the perils you need to be aware of. However, the rules for battles are too expansive to be included here, so for more information on how to deal with battles, please refer to the section entitled “Combat”.

6. Traps & Obstacles

Another peril you will likely encounter are traps and obstacles. Traps can be found anywhere. They can be set up in otherwise peaceful looking roads, or deep in the middle of wild forests. They can be found in homes and sewers, and of course deep within ancient ruins. Traps do not always have to be man-made traps, but can include anything that could endanger your character or cause trouble in your adventure. To disarm traps you must have the right ability and describe how you are going to do so. The disarming trap abilities don't do the work for you, but they give you the knowledge to be able to disarm traps. The abilities you need are: Identify Traps (skill), Basic Traps Knowlege, Better Traps Knowledge, Complex Traps Knowledge, Advanced Traps Knowledge, and Magic Traps Knowledge.

You can also set traps in Legends of Nor'Ova. You will need the above listed abilities depending upon the complexity of the trap you wish to set. You will also need the Trap Setting skill. If you have all that and the material to set a trap, plan it out with your GM. Your GM will decide the difficulty of the trap based on your explanation, and how long it will take you to set the trap.

Traps are but one form of obstacle. Other obstacles could be things that require a skill to pass, such as having to swim across a river, or things that are impossible to pass such as a wall within an enclosed ruin that you cannot climb over. Many obstacles require you to backtrack back through dangerous areas that you have already passed through in order to find your way around the obstacle. Other obstacles could be a part of a puzzle that has to be solved in order to progress, or require a key or other item to get passed such as a locked door. Some obstacles may even include rare treasures such as chests.

7. Inclement Weather

Perhaps one of the most under-prepared for peril is inclement weather. Inclement weather can force you to take refuge within a dark cave or overgrown ancient ruin that you weren’t otherwise planning to visit. Inclement weather can ruin your supplies, delay your adventure, and even pose substantial risk to your character.

Of course, inclement weather is completely up to the GM. Only the GM can decide what kind of weather, if any, you would experience on your adventure. Inclement weather usually only would affect you while traveling in the world map, but it can also effect you in area maps if you are outdoors. Inclement weather typically does not affect inside locations.

Some examples of inclement weather are rain storms, thunder storms, wind storms, hail storms, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, and sand storms. Any of these could be strong enough to divert your adventure and force you to take safety, however there are certain storms that could pose an immediate risk to your character.

Lightning Storms, thunder storms, or any storms that have lightning:Lightning can severally hurt your character, no doubt about that. A character wearing a full suit of metal armor is just a lightning rod begging to be struck. Therefore should you be caught outdoors during lightning, you should make an evasion check using the 20 magic penalty to see if you get struck. Your GM may give you a modifier to increase your odds. Should you fail, you would take 10d10 damage. You will need to repeat this for each hour that you are exposed.

Hail Storms: Balls of compacted ice falling at a great distance can also harm your character. If you are caught out in the open in a hail storm, you need to make an evade check. Should you fail, you will receive 2d20 damage. You will need to repeat this for each hour that you are exposed.

Tornadoes:If you get caught in a tornado, you will receive 10d20 damage automatically. You should make haste to find shelter if you spot a tornado, because getting caught in one will most likely kill you.

Sand Storms, Snow Storms, and Dust Storms: If you get caught in one of these storms, your visibility will drop to near zero, meaning you will not be able to see or know where you are going. Your movement rates will also be decreased by ¾. If you are caught in a snow storm you will need to make hourly resistance checks to avoid frost bite.

Wind Storms: Wind storms can decrease your visibility if there is a lot of debris flying about. If the debris is large, you may be required to make evade checks or suffer 1d20 damage each time hit with flying debris. While in a wind storm, your movement rates are decreased by ¾.

8. Stat Checks

Throughout this wiki, especially in this section, you may have read something about making some sort of stat check. A stat check is basically a check to see if your character is able to do or avoid something based on your character’s stats. When making a stat check, your GM will tell you what kind of stat check it is. You will then need to roll percentile nice to see if you pass the stat check. Typically, if you roll your stat and below, this would mean you succeeded at making a stat check. So if you had to make a perception check and your character’s Perception % is 20, and you rolled an 18, you succeeded. However the GM may decide to give you a temporary bonus or penalty for the stat in question for that stat check only, making it harder or easier to preform the stat check successfully.

But how do you exactly know what kind of stat checks you need to make and when you need to make them? Well this is entirely up to the GM and the situation. The GM will have to determine what the situation best calls for and should a stat check even be needed. A good knowledge of what the stats are and how they work is important here.

Fortitude: You may want to make a fortitude check anytime there is a situation that involves a character’s HP or defensive ability. For example, a character enter into the boiling hot chamber of a volcano right above a lake of magma. As GM, you figure that just being in that room would quickly cook a character, doing 10 points of damage to their HP per minute. However you realize that some people can withstand heat better than others, so you decide to give them a fortitude check. If they pass, they cut their losses in half. Again this is just one example. Fortitude checks are also used to make so-called “Resistance Checks”. These are checks made whenever a character is encountering a negative status effect. For example, a character gets bit by a poisonous spider. Here the GM can ask for a resistance check to see if the character gets poisoned or only get dealt bite damage. If the character succeeds, no poison, if the character fails, the character is poisoned. Whenever making a fortitude check, you will be using the Fortitude stat.

Speed: You may want to use a speed check for anything that would call into question a character’s speed or ability to maintain motion. A good example is getting stuck in quicksand. If the character can make a successful speed check, the character can escape the quicksand. Here you will be using the Speed stat. Speed checks are also used for checking agility actions such as the character’s ability to bend, flex, flip, or even stay balanced or stay standing comes into question.

Evade %: If a character wants to evade anything, such as falling debris, arrows from traps or shot afar, or whatever, you will want to call for an evade check. A success here means the evade is successful.

Mental:Anytime a character wishes to learn something new for that character, such as a new language, or try to understand something, you will want to use a mental check. This could even be used for trying to remember information. For example, a character is trying to remember something that they learned about at an earlier part in their adventure, but the player can’t remember what that information is. The player could ask for help, and the GM could then decide to make that character make a mental check. If the character succeeds, the GM will remind the player the forgotten information for the character to remember. If the check fails however, the character will not remember. You would not make a mental check to learn new skills or spells. Instead to learn new skills or spells refer to the skills system rules. Whenever making a mental check you will be using the Mental stat.

Will:You will want to use a will check anytime your character’s will become challenged. This could be when trying to escape persuasion or mental effects such as charm, seduction, or confusion., prevent from being enraged or possessed, or even to keep from loosing yourself to emphatic or emotional attacks.

Perception %: You would make a perception check anytime you are trying to see or hear something that is not clearly visible or easy to hear. This could be when looking for hard to see trap triggers such as trip lines of pressure plates, when looking in a room for small clues or even when eavesdropping or listening for possible danger. Perception checks are never used to see what is plainly evident nor does a failed perception check mean that you are blind. It just means that your character failed to notice anything not plainly noticable.

Strength:You will wish to use a strength check anytime the character’s strength comes into question. This could be for pulling, carrying, or lifting weight greater than what the character can do normally, or for freeing oneself from tight holds. For example, two characters are exploring an ancient ruin when the floor gives out and one character proceeds to fall. The other character, probably making a successful speed check, is able to quickly grab his falling friend by the hand but now needs to pull him up out of harms way. However the character weights more than what the other character can lift or carry, but not terribly much more. The GM could have the character that is pulling up the other character make a strength check. If successful, the character is able to pull up the other character out of harm’s way. If he fails however he drops the other character.

Luck: You will want to make a luck check for any situation that can be explained by luck. This could be for finding treasure, or for escaping being noticed or even barely escaping with one’s life when the ceiling comes caving in. Luck is one of the most versatile stats in that it can be used for all kinds of situations, and even can be used to determine random battles and story-driven situations.

Influence %:You will want to use a influence check anytime a character is attempting to use their influence for a purpose. This could be for trying to charm a price reduction with one’s good looks and flattery, or trying to coax information from a tight-lipped city guard. It could be used for trying to impress some tavern barmaid, or even trying to get out of a fight with some enraged ex-boyfriend. Influence can also be used to influence others to think the way your character thinks (or at least agree with your character).

With stat checks you can try out any situation. You are only limited by your own imagination and by what your GM allows. Stat checks can turn even the most impossible situations into possible situations, a gathering at a local tavern into a humorous event and bring life to trying to talk your way out of a jail sentence. However stat checks should never be used to prohibit actual role play, instead they should be used with role play to provide a way and means for things to be done.

8.1. Aiding WIth Stat Checks

It is possible to help another player who is making a stat check, as long as you can help with that player's character is doing. For example, you can help open a heavy door or lift a heavy boulder thus helping that player make a strength check. Or you could help convince the guard helping that player with his or her influence check. To help with a stat check, you simply declare that you are helping and you will give that player a bonus of 5. This bonus of 5 is added per player character that is helping the character making the check.

8.2. Stat Check Difficulty

Not every instance of making a stat check is going to be the same. Sometimes the situation will make for an easier stat check. Other times it will be more difficult. Largely this difficulty will depend upon the situation and the GM, however here is a simple table that can be used.

Difficulty Rating

Description

Stat Check Modifier

- 10 "Highly Likely"

It is highly likely that the stat check would be successful as it would be very hard to fail.

Either a guarenteed success or a range of bonuses from +20 to +50

- 8 "Very easy"

It is very easy to succeed at the stat check, but not nessecarily a sure thing.

+10 to +20

- 5 "Easy"

It is an easy check, but you could still mess up.

+2 to +10

0 "Normal Chance"

The chance of a successful stat check is all up to the character.

no bonuses or penalties

2 "Difficult"

It is harder than normal but still very possible.

-1 to -5 penalty range

5 "Challenging"

It would be very challenging to succeed, but possible.

-5 to -15 penalty range

10 "Very Challenging"

It would be very very challenging to succeed, possibility is low.

-15 to -30 penalty range

15 "Heroic"

Succeeding here is likely to make the character famous.

-30 to -50 penalty range

20 "Impossible"

It is impossible to succeed and if the character does, it would be amazing.

can only succeed with a critical success, or an instant failure - up to GM

Wiki+ page: Exploring the World

Anytime you travel from one location to another, such as leaving a town to go to a castle or explore a dungeon, or even go to another town, you will be traveling on the world map. World Maps are basically maps that cover large areas and is usually measured in miles. Your GM should have prepared for you a world map, either drawn by the GM or downloaded from here.

1. Movement on the World Map

When moving on the world map, you will refer to your character's world movement rate. The world map is a map of a large area, typically a national map or a continental map. Despite its name, the world map is likely not to consist of the entire game world. A world maps is simply a map which covers a very large area.

Legends of Nor’Ova uses a map drawn over a square grid. Each small square is equal to five miles. This helps to keep the movement across the world map simple, without having to rely on rulers or other measuring devices, so that you can concentrate more on actually playing the game.

When traveling on the world map, you will simply count the squares in the direction you are headed, until you have counted the number of squares equal to your character’s world movement rate. That means if your character has a world movement rate of 2, then your character would move 2 squares or 10 miles in that one game hour.

World Movement, just like Area Movement, is measured in miles per hour. That means that your World Movement rate is how far your character can travel in the world map in miles per hour.

Since you are likely playing in a group with other characters, the world movement rate of your party will be determined by the slowest character, or the character with the slowest world movement rate. This is done so that the group can travel together. It is much easier to imagine having to slow your pace for a slower member of the party than to try and explain how and why a person with a world movement rate of 2 can keep up with a person with a world movement rate of 4.

1.1. Using Movement Abilities in World Movement

Of course you will not always be walking when in world movement. You might decide to run some, or you may have to climb through a mountain range or swim across a raging river. Therefore you may find yourself needing to use a movement ability. Typically, these would be climbing, swimming, and run. Some races may have their own movement abilities, such as short range teleport or flying. Sprint, however, is one movement ability that you cannot use in world movement. Below are the main movement skills that you may need to use, and how they work for world movement. Some movement abilities are abilities that all characters have such as running.

Climbing:There are various situations in which you might need to climb, and the Climbing Ability has specializations to cover these. The specializations are: Mountain, Cliff, Tall Tree, and Flat Wall. There is no need for climbing ability for easy to climb trees and other areas that can be climbed without training. Each specialization grants you the ability to climb those difficult to climb situations at the EP cost of climbing. The EP cost depends on the difficulty of the climbing environment.

Swimming: As long as you are unarmored, you can swim. Everyone in Nor'Ova has basic swimming ability. If you are wearing armor, you will need the Swimming While Armored ability. Swimming does cost EP and can impact your world movement rate, depending upon the swimming environment.

Wading: You aren't really swimming as you can reach bottom. Your world movement is decreased by 1.

Gentle Waters: A still pond or a creek with barely any current, this water is easy to swim in. 3 EP per block, world movement decreased by 1.

Average Currents: a river with a steady current, 5 EP per block. If moving with current world movement increased by 1. If going against the current world movement decreased by half.

Rapids: heavy currents, 10 EP per block and Speed Checks may be required to keep swimming and not drown. If moving with current world movement increased by 2. If going against the current world movement decreased to 1.

Run:You can run over long distances. Every character can. You simply use 5 EP per block that you run, increasing your world movement rate by 1. If you are running downhill, increase movement rate by an additional 1.

Racial Movement Abilities or Skills: You can use any racial movement skill such as fly or teleport. Their effect and cost is once per hour.

1.2. Traveling Across Difficult Terrain

Rarely will you ever have nothing but good roads and smooth plains when traveling the world. You will most likely have to deal with some kind of harsh or difficult terrain which would slow you down. Therefore it is important to be able to deal with such terrain. Below is a table that lists the different types of terrains with a small description and how they affect your world movement rate.

Terrain Penalty Table

Terrain Type

Description

World Movement Modifiers

Flat & Rolling Plains

Any type of plains, flat, or with gentle rolling hills and slopes. Grass or dirt covered.

no movement penalties or bonuses

Roads

Well defined and maintained roads, not poorly maintained or ruined.

increase your world movement rate by + 1

Steep Hills

Tall hills with steep slopes that are hard to travel across.

decrease your world movement rate by 1

Swamp

A body of shallow water that is thick with mud and other substances, that is no deeper than waist deep. Also referred to as a bog or everglades.

decrease your world movement rate by 2

Sand

Sand that is at least 2 inches deep and covers the entire ground such as a beach or a desert.

decrease your world movement rate by 1

Mud

Large areas of thick and soft mud which a traveler's feet could sink into.

decrease your world movement rate by 2

Thick Underbrush

Bushes, ivy, and other plants that come up no higher than to your chest.

decrease your world movement rate by 1

Forest

Any area that is listed as a forest , jungle, or wood land.

decrease your world movement rate by 2

Shallow Snow

Snow which covers the entire ground that is deeper than one inch but no deeper than 4 inches.

decrease your world movement rate by 1

Deep Snow

Snow which covers the entire ground and is deeper than 4 inches..

decrease your world movement rate by ½

Ice

A layer of ice which covers the entire ground.

decrease your world movement rate by ½

It should be noted that it is to the GM’s discretion on what the terrain is, and the players should defer to the GM.

2. Camping

Should you not make it to your destination within two movement cycles, you will most likely need to camp. Camping allows you to rest and regather some of your lost energy. Most races require rest. When you stop to make camp, you will need to remove from your inventory any food and water for that day.

Your GM may use this time to also plan a battle or check for a random battle. More on this is in the section entitled Combat.

Should you rest for an entire cycle,you will recover 10% of your full HP, SA, and EP stats . You use your full stats to determine by how many points your current HP, SA, and EP are restored by. You can increase this percentage by using various camping gear, such as sleeping bags and tents. If you decide not to camp for a movement cycle, and continue on with moving, you will need to apply any penalties that your race gives you.

Camping is not a time for practicing skills. Camping is only a time for resting and preparing for the next game day. Skills should never be practiced for skill points. Skill points should only be obtained by actually attempting to use skills, not by simply rolling the dice and saying that you are practicing a skill.

3. Foraging, Hunting, & Fishing

Another use for camping is the gathering of food and materials. Foraging, hunting, and fishing are all appropriate activities that your character can engage in during a camping cycle, and you may decide to use a second camping cycle or an entire game day for these activities.

Foraging: For each hour of the camping cycle you are allowed to make a Luck check to find berries and materials. You may use the alchemical ingredients or the materials list in the equipment section of this book, or the GM may create his own list of things that you can find while foraging.

Hunting: To hunt you will need to use the ability called “Hunting”. You will have a chance each hour of the cycle to use this skill, and with each successful use of this skill you will be rewarded a small, killed animal of the GM’s choosing.

Fishing: To fish you will need to be near a body of water and have fishing gear; a pole, fishing line, fishing hooks, and bait. You will throw your line in and for each hour of the cycle you will be allowed to make a luck check. A successful luck check will win you 1d4 fish.

Wiki+ page: Gameplay in Civilized Areas

While playing Legends of Nor’Ova, you will be doing more than just exploring the world. One of the activities you will take part in is exploring and interacting in civilized areas. Civilized areas are basically any areas that having other people living in them. These areas are typically your villages, towns, or cities. These communities will make the majority of your civilized areas, however there are also palaces, castles, forts, farms, remote inns and shops, and the like.

1. Exploring Communities

It is not always important to map out a town or any other community, especially if you do not plan to use the community for anything more than staying at an inn and giving characters a place to do some shopping. Most of the time, detailed description is sufficient. However should you desire to map out your communities, here are some basic things you need to know.

Community maps are area maps. Area maps are like world maps in that they are drawn on square grid graph paper. However area maps are used to illustrate small, local areas. Each square on an area map represents six feet.

When traveling on an area map you would use your area movement.The area movement shows how far your character can move in a one hour time frame.

It is up to the GM on how he wants to keep track of time spent in a community. He may decide to simply dictate how much time the players have spent there. He may decide to simply measure out how many hours worth of movement actions a player has made as a method of keeping track of time. Or he may decide to follow the exploration rules in the Exploring Dungeons and Ruins segment of this section.

When exploring communities, your characters will have the opportunity to interact with the locals, all of which will be played as NPC’s (non player characters) by the GM. It will be up to the GM to determine if and when your characters encounter a local, and just who this local is and how this local will interact with your character.

When shopping for equipment, your GM may decide to play the shop tender as an NPC, or may simply hand you the equipment section of this book. There is no real interaction needed for shopping, and equipment is considered ready and usable as soon as it is purchased. However using roleplay here could prove both humorous and a good plot device.

Staying in inns is another activity you may wish to do when in a community. The GM will determine how much it costs to stay at an inn, or if the innkeeper will even allow your characters to stay at the inn. Should you rest at the inn for a full cycle, your character’s HP, SA, and EP will be fully restored.

Taverns are another common feature in communities. Whether you call a tavern by a different name or not is up to your GM. The tavern is usually used as a point of interest for the players where they can go and listen to rumors and find quests. Exactly how the tavern is used is up to the GM, as are any quests, rumors, NPC’s, and activities found there. Depending upon your GM, the tavern may not be of much excitement or could be a place more dangerous than the most dangerous dungeons.

There are other buildings and locations within a community besides your shops, inns, taverns, and homes.These are the community government locations, such as elders homes, mayor offices, jails, and other like locations. The more important the community is, the more government locations there are within the community. Again, it is up to your GM to determine this and provide any information on them.

2. Questing within Communities

It is very possible to have quests within communities. Perhaps the quest will have you scouring the city for a criminal or lost heirloom. Maybe the quest will have you assassinate a member of the community. Whatever the reason or purpose, there are plenty of opportunities for the clever GM to provide a quest here.

Should the questing take your characters to a non-civilized area, such as going into the sewers or even finding a lost ruin underneath the city, then the GM will need to follow the Exploring Dungeons and Ruins rules. Otherwise, if the players are only interacting within the community for their quest, it is fine to stick with these rules.

You can find treasures within a community. These treasures can be something as simple as lose shillings laying on the ground or something more traditional, such as a locked treasure box hidden in an ally way. Again, it is up to the GM to determine this and what the treasure is when a treasure is found. There are also plenty of perils when questing in a community. There could be robbers and thieves, or pitfalls. The quest could take you within an unsteady building, or you could find yourself tricked by an innocent looking local.

Make use of your skills if you have them. Try to con the natives, or try to influence them with your charisma by making a personality check. Explore other ideas that put to best use your characters skills, and have fun with it. The GM is free to create the community as he desires, and provide the environment in any way he wishes, and you are free to role play in it.

Yes, you have to be prepared to accept the consequences for your character’s actions, especially if your GM is a clever one that can link ever action with a reaction, even if not an immediate reaction, but the point here is you can be your character. There are no rules telling you how you must talk to a local or how you must barter at a shop. Instead, just use the skills your character has to survive and do well in the environment your GM provides for you. Have fun with it, and try to stay in character instead of dictating for the character.

Exploring civilized castles, towers, farms, remote inns, forts, and the like is just like exploring communities. The only differences are that there may not be any shops, taverns, or inns and your characters may be restricted to where they can ‘explore’.

3. Movement Abilities in Communities

Just like on the world map, you can make use of movement abilities.

Climbing:There are various situations in which you might need to climb, and the Climbing Ability has specializations to cover these. The specializations are: Mountain, Cliff, Tall Tree, and Flat Wall. There is no need for climbing ability for easy to climb trees and other areas that can be climbed without training. Each specialization grants you the ability to climb those difficult to climb situations at the EP cost of climbing. The EP cost depends on the difficulty of the climbing environment.

Swimming: As long as you are unarmored, you can swim. Everyone in Nor'Ova has basic swimming ability. If you are wearing armor, you will need the Swimming While Armored ability. Swimming does cost EP and can impact your world movement rate, depending upon the swimming environment.

Wading: You aren't really swimming as you can reach bottom. Your area movement is decreased by 2.

Gentle Waters: A still pond or a creek with barely any current, this water is easy to swim in. 1 EP per block, area movement decreased by 2.

Average Currents: a river with a steady current, 3 EP per block. If moving with current area movement increased by 2. If going against the current area movement decreased by half.

Rapids: heavy currents, 5 EP per block and Speed Checks may be required to keep swimming and not drown. If moving with current area movement increased by 4. If going against the current area movement decreased to 1.

Run:You can run over long distances. Every character can. You simply use 3 EP per block that you run, doubling your area movement rate. If you are running downhill, increase movement rate by an additional 10.

Racial Movement Abilities or Skills: You can use any racial movement skill such as fly or teleport. Their effect and cost is once per hour.

4. Interacting with the Locals

Interacting with the locals is perhaps one of the largest activities you will find yourself doing in a community. The locals will all be played by the GM as NPC's, and depending upon how you interact with them and how they see you, they might give you good hints, might help you, might lie to you, and even might fight you. When interacting with the locals it is important to always remember to play in character and to think like your character. Do not take things said personally, as it is just role play after all.

Do not forget that you can make use of certain stat checks, skills, and abilities when interacting with the locals. Perhaps you might want to use haggle to haggle a better bribe. Maybe you want to detect lies or use your influence. You could even use perception to try and see any hard to notice signs or body language that may alert you to danager or if the person is being less than honest.

Often times your travels will lead you to explore dungeons or ancient ruins. We will call these areas dungeons for simplicity. Dungeons are basically any area that is uncivilized, and often abandoned except for maybe bands of thieves, beasts of the wild, and perhaps even the living dead. These areas are referred to as dungeons for game use only, as exploring through them is an action commonly referred to as a dungeon crawl.

These dungeons all take place in area maps, so area movement is used. They are often littered with treasures and dangers such as traps, frail construction, and hostile enemies. The ultimate design and layout of the dungeon, as well as what it holds, is up to the GM, though many campaigns will come with pre-designed dungeon maps if the GM does not wish to create one himself. It is within the dungeons of the world that you are likely to spend most of your active play, therefore it is very important that you understand how to explore the dungeon. Also your character should be well prepared before venturing into one, as you never know how long you will be there or what you will encounter. The well prepared adventurer is likely to emerge from a dungeon with treasures, riches, and more powerful, while the under prepared adventurer will likely die there.

1. Movement in Dungeons

The first thing you will need to understand when exploring dungeons is moving within the dungeons. As stated before, dungeons take place on area maps, so area movement is used.

Moving, for example, sixty blocks or 360 feet in one hour may not seem very realistic to you, but it does keep things simple. If you try to make it too realistic, you will find that you spend no real-time at all in a dungeon and you may find yourself overburdened and confused with different rules and charts just to keep up with real-time exploration. You can look at it with the mind-set that you are looking around carefully as you move, and this could be best shown with you making perception checks before you move to see if you notice anything while walking.

1.1. Using Movement Abilities

Just like on the world map, you can make use of movement abilities.

Climbing:There are various situations in which you might need to climb, and the Climbing Ability has specializations to cover these. The specializations are: Mountain, Cliff, Tall Tree, and Flat Wall. There is no need for climbing ability for easy to climb trees and other areas that can be climbed without training. Each specialization grants you the ability to climb those difficult to climb situations at the EP cost of climbing. The EP cost depends on the difficulty of the climbing environment.

Swimming: As long as you are unarmored, you can swim. Everyone in Nor'Ova has basic swimming ability. If you are wearing armor, you will need the Swimming While Armored ability. Swimming does cost EP and can impact your world movement rate, depending upon the swimming environment.

Wading: You aren't really swimming as you can reach bottom. Your area movement is decreased by 2.

Gentle Waters: A still pond or a creek with barely any current, this water is easy to swim in. 1 EP per block, area movement decreased by 2.

Average Currents: a river with a steady current, 3 EP per block. If moving with current area movement increased by 2. If going against the current area movement decreased by half.

Rapids: heavy currents, 5 EP per block and Speed Checks may be required to keep swimming and not drown. If moving with current area movement increased by 4. If going against the current area movement decreased to 1.

Run:You can run over long distances. Every character can. You simply use 3 EP per block that you run, doubling your area movement rate. If you are running downhill, increase movement rate by an additional 10.

Racial Movement Abilities or Skills: You can use any racial movement skill such as fly or teleport. Their effect and cost is once per hour.

1.2. Dealing with Different Terrain

Of course you won’t always be walking across a flat floor throughout the entire dungeon. Occasionally you will encounter ladders, stairs, ropes, or other means of ascending or descending floors. Using the following table will help you to handle these challenges.

Ascending or Descending Table

Obstacle

Description

Modifier

Walking up stairs

Walking up stairs to the floor above is slower than walking on a flat, level surface. The run skill can be used. Each floor traveled is counted as two movement blocks.

decrease your area movement rate by 10

Walking down stairs

Walking down stairs to the floor below is faster than walking on a flat, level surface. The run skill can be used. Each floor traveled is counted as two movement blocks.

increase your area movement rate by 10

Climbing up or down a rope

Climbing up or down rope to another floor is slow and time-consuming. This action requires the use of the climbing skill. Every 3 feet that is traveled up or down counts as a movement block.

decrease your area movement rate by ½

Climbing up or down a ladder

Climbing up or down a ladder is slow but not as slow as climbing up or down a rope. You do not need a climbing skill for this. Every 3 feet that is traveled up or down counts as a movement block.

decrease your area movement rate by 20

Scaling a rocky ledge up or down

Scaling a rocky ledge requires the use of the Climbing - Mountain Cliff ability and is a slow process. Every 3 feet that is traveled up or down counts as a movement block.

decrease your area movement rate by ¾

Climbing up or down vines or other plants

Climbing up or down vines is treated like climbing up or down ropes.

decrease your area movement rate by ½

Jumping down to a lower level

If you are able to jump down without injury to a lower level you will lose no time or movement. However you may be asked to make an agility check.

A failed agility check could cause you to lose the rest of your movement rate to rest and recover, depending upon the GM.

There are also other terrain obstacles that you may encounter in your dungeon exploration, such as the need to swim, or trying to walk over a ruble and debris covered walkway. The following table will help you handle these challenges.

Dungeon Terrain Modifiers Table

Terrain Type

Description

World Movement Modifiers

Ice

A layer of ice which covers the entire ground.

decrease your area movement rate by 20

Mud

Large areas of thick and soft mud which a traveler's feet could sink into.

decrease your area movement rate by 30

Sand

Sand that is at least 2 inches deep and covers the entire ground.

decrease your area movement rate by ½

Thick Underbrush

Bushes, ivy, and other plants that come up no higher than to your chest.

decrease your area movement rate by 30

Holes

Large holes in the floor that cover at least one movement block. Requires jumping over or finding a way to cross,amount of area blocks jumped over is deducted from your movement.

no change in movement rate

Rubble & Debris

Any amount of uneven material in the walkway that requires carefully stepping and walking on. You may need to make an agility check to see if you fall.

decrease your area movement rate by 20

Tight Spaces

Any tight space that you can still fit through but only by turning your body and walking sideways. This can also be used for sidestepping on edges.

decrease your area movement rate by ½

Crawl Spaces

Any space that requires you to crawl in order to travel through.

decrease your area movement rate by ½ when crawling on your hands and knees; decrease your area movement rate by ¾ when belly crawling

Weak Floor

Any floor that has the potential to break beneath your weight.

decrease your area movement rate by 20 with a required luck check with each step taken

Low Ceilings

Any area that requires you to walk for a good length while ducking to avoid head clearance.

2. Searching for Traps

While exploring a dungeon you will want to search for traps. Searching for traps not only includes traps that are man-made, but also other dangerous obstacles, such as weak floors, unsteady rooms, and any other hard to see hazards that could really mess up your adventure.

In order to search for such traps, you will need to make a successful perception check. A perception check is using percentile dice to attempt to roll your character’s Perception % stat or lower. Anything higher than your character’s Perception % stat, and the check is a failure, which means you would not notice anything that is not already obvious. Of course what you notice and what is obvious is up to the GM, and the GM may decide to give you some extra leeway for more easily noticed things, while giving you a handicap for harder to notice things.

Perception checks can be done right before you make your movement for the hour. The GM may decide to let that perception check count for anything you observe in your movement, or may state that it only works for when you are standing still. You have as many tries as your GM allows for.

2.1. Disarming and Setting Traps

To disarm traps you must have the right ability and describe how you are going to do so. The disarming trap abilities don't do the work for you, but they give you the knowledge to be able to disarm traps. The abilities you need are: Identify Traps (skill), Basic Traps Knowlege, Better Traps Knowledge, Complex Traps Knowledge, Advanced Traps Knowledge, and Magic Traps Knowledge.

You can also set traps in Legends of Nor'Ova. You will need the above listed abilities depending upon the complexity of the trap you wish to set. You will also need the Trap Setting skill. If you have all that and the material to set a trap, plan it out with your GM. Your GM will decide the difficulty of the trap based on your explanation, and how long it will take you to set the trap.

3. Searching for Hidden Treasure

While exploring the dungeon, you may find yourself, for example, in a small room filled with drawers, pots, or other places that things could be hidden in. This will almost always be small things, like lose coins, notes, or perhaps items needed to progress in the dungeon like keys and other clues. The GM may come up with any method to let you search this room, but here is a simple, common method.

When you enter the room, tell the GM where you are searching. The GM may desire for you to make a Luck check. Making a luck check is done the same way as making a perception check. Depending on the GM, a successful luck check could mean you found something, but it could also mean that when you reached your hand in that dark jar some bug didn’t bite you and poison you. What you find, if you find anything at all, is up to the GM, as is how long it took you. You may want to refer to the Stat Check Difficulty Table here.

4. Resting While in Dungeons

You may find yourself needing to rest for the night (rest for a full cycle) while in a dungeon. This could be because you have spent so much time in a dungeon already that you have spent your first two cycles of the day, and are still in the dungeon, or because you were traveling the world map without a tent and it started to rain so you ducked real quick into a dungeon, or any other reason really.

Resting in a dungeon is not that much unlike resting out in the world map. You will recover 10% of your full HP, SA, and EP stats. You use your full stats to determine by how many points your current HP, SA, and EP are restored by. You can increase this percentage by using various camping gear, such as sleeping bags and tents. You will also need to remove from your inventory spent rations and water for the day. What may be different is that you may not be able to use a tent, dependent upon your surroundings, you may not find any material to make a camp fire, and you will likely not experience any weather problems.

The GM will want to check to see if you get disturbed during your rest, and may decide to check for each hour of your rest cycle. Remember, if you get pulled into a battle or your rest cycle gets disturbed, you will not get any of the restorative effects from resting. The GM may also decide that you suffer the penalty for not resting a full cycle, as described by your race. If you decide not to camp for a movement cycle, and continue on with moving, you will need to apply any penalties that your race gives you.

Wiki+ page: Keeping Track of Time

Just like in the real world, time does move in Nor’Ova. Keeping track of time is essential, not only for determining how long a status effect or skill lasts but also for determining how long you have been travelling in game-time, when the game day ends, and when your character needs to rest. It is also important story wise to know how long you have been away from a village when you return to it, and if it is night or day. Certain events in the campaign may also be dependent upon time. Keeping track of time also is a good way of ensuring that everyone has equal play time, especially should there be more than one independently acting character groups.

1. Time Progression

So exactly how does time progress in Nor’Ova? By now you would understand that an hour in real-time does not equal an hour in game-time. That would make it take forever to accomplish any real adventuring if you had to be dependent upon real-time. However game time does use common terms such as night and day, minutes, and hours.

The way and method that time progresses in Nor’Ova is completely dependent upon actions and environment. For example, ten hours pass after you complete one movement in a world map, while an hour passes when you move in a dungeon setting. Below is a listing of the various situations you will find yourself in and how time moves in those situations.

World Map: After you make one world movement, one hour has passed. Should you rest for a cycle, ten hours have passed. Chatting with other members in your party and other activities that take place on the world map can pass time as well, but that is determined by the GM.

Area Map: When in civilized areas, the GM can determine just how time passes. If the GM wishes to tie time passing to anything, he can tie it to area movement. Area movement rates if you remember are done in one hour intervals, meaning that each time you complete your area movement, one hour of game time has passed. Story interactions and other events are determined by the GM.

Battles: Every round of battle counts for 10 seconds of game time.

A day on Nor’Ova (a game day) is thirty hours long. Just like in real life a game hour is sixty minutes and a game minute is sixty seconds, however it is unlikely you will ever deal with game seconds. There are six hundred game days in one game year. The seasons are standard real life seasons; spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

A game day on Nor’Ova is broken up as follows…

0:00 Midnight, beginning of the new day.

24:00 till 4:00 is the Night Cycle. It is divided into three sub cycles called early night, midnight, and late night.

4:00 till 14:00 is the Morning Cycle. It is divided into three sub cycles called early morning, mid morning, and late morning.

15:00 is High Noon

14:00 24:00 is the Afternoon Cycle. It is divided into three sub cycles called noon, afternoon, and evening.

You can keep track of this however you like. However, you do need to make sure you are keeping track of time, even if it is only the days.

2. Calendar

Most cultures and nations use a calendar to keep track of time. With a calendar, they group together days into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Civilizations do this primarily to keep track of the seasons but many civilizations use it for other purposes as well, such as marking important dates, planning holidays and festivals, and even when dealing with war.

Being that this is only the core rules, you will not find a calendar here. It is up to the campaign you are using, or your GM, to provide you with a calendar, should the GM even choose to use one. It would not be difficult to create a basic calendar, you could simply divide the days into ten-day weeks and the months into four-week months, which would give each month forty days. Doing it that way would give your game calendar fifteen months. Or you could be creative and find other ways to group the days into weeks and the weeks into months. Really, the most difficult part of making a calendar would be to determine what months fall in what season, and giving the months and days cleaver and unique names.